


Can't Take It Anymore

by InarraSerra



Category: Runaways (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, Flirting, Jealousy, Pining, he really needs to work on that, oblivious chase
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-17
Updated: 2018-11-02
Packaged: 2019-02-16 01:33:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 1,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13043760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InarraSerra/pseuds/InarraSerra
Summary: A collection of gertchase ficlets I've written





	1. I've been there, on the other side

**Author's Note:**

> I asked people to send in gertchase prompts on my [tumblr](https://natasharomenova.tumblr.com/), and thought it might be nice to cross post them here. Title taken from "I Can't Take It Anymore" by Wet Lips, which I highly recommend you check out on spotify.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [anonymous:](https://natasharomenova.tumblr.com/post/168649111698/a-gertchase-idea-gert-flirting-with-some-guy-and) A gert/chase idea: gert flirting with some guy and chase getting incredibly jealous?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter title taken from Jealousy by Sparkadia

“We should just put it up on Youtube and wait for them to get arrested!” Gert said in a loud whisper. It was the day after the runaways had successfully stolen the video of their parents _murdering_ someone and they were at school deciding how to release it. Nico thought they should send it to the local new stations, but Gert disagreed. Chase secretly agreed with Gert, but not enough to argue with Nico about it.

 

Just as Nico opened her mouth to reply, she was interrupted by some guy Chase didn’t know, “Hey Gert. Sorry for butting in, but I missed our last Spanish class and I was wondering if I could borrow your notes?” He looked a little sheepish, like was actually sorry for interrupting them, but Chase suspected that he was more than happy to intrude if it mean that he got to spend time with Gert.

 

“Yeah, of course. Follow me.” Gert smiled, leading the guy - Jack maybe? - down the hall to her locker. She was still smiling as she opened the door and started rifling through her stuff and for some reason, Chase couldn’t look away, no matter how much he wanted to. He was still looking when Jack put his hand on Gert’s arm and leaned in a little, obviously saying something funny because the next second Gert threw her head back and laughed. That’s when Chase noticed the feeling in the pit of his stomach. He couldn’t figure out what it was. It was little like sadness and a lot like rage. Taking deep breaths to try and control it, he noticed that he was clenching his hands so hard that he’d drawn blood.

 

“You’re jealous, aren’t you” Molly suddenly asked him. He dragged his eyes away from Gert and Jack, turning to look at Molly. She was sitting next to him on the bench, looking up with an odd mix of curiosity and satisfaction in her eyes.

“Of course not. I don’t like Gert that way.” Chase replied quickly, trying to hide the blush the question brought to his cheeks.

Molly snort, “That’s a load of bullshit,” Ignoring him when he started to object to her language, she continued, “It is. Maybe you don’t see it yet, but you look ready to punch that guy just for touching her. Thats a sign of jealousy, Chase. Which means you like her, and as more than just a friend.”

Molly, leaving a stunned Chase in her wake, sat back down next to Karolina and started participating in the argument again.

 

When Chase went back to looking at Gert, she seemed to have found her notes and was walking back to the group, still chatting with Jack.

They stopped just in earshot and Jack asked, “I was wondering if we could get together to study tomorrow. I’m great at maths if you need any help?”

Gert nodded and they exchanged numbers before Gert walked the rest of the way back alone, ducking her head and grinning.

 

(Chase was moody and belligerent that rest of the day, snapping when asked questions and angrily glaring in Gert’s general direction in class)


	2. tryin' to get her to change her mind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A [deleted scene](https://natasharomenova.tumblr.com/post/168519896693/im-here-i-wanna-read-it) from a fic I should hopefully post soon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title also taken from Jealousy by Sparkadia, which I thought was appropriate

Just the other day the group had been having a meeting at their local coffee shop when Chase and Gert got distracted.

 

It had started off fairly innocently, brainstorming ways to sneak into Wizard Computers. But when Nico suggested that Gert distract the security guard while she and Alex went and downloaded the video, Chase immediately disagreed.

“Gert can’t be the one to distract the guy at the desk.” He said, leaning forward. 

Across the table, Gert mimicked his pose. “And why not? Do you think that you’d do a better job?”

“No, it’s just…. You’re not….” He looked around the room like he’d be able to find an answer on the walls.

“I’m not _what_ , Chase? Not pretty enough? Not good enough at flirting? What exactly is your problem with me being the distraction?” Gert looked absolutely furious now.

“No, of course you’re pretty enough, that was never even a question. It’s just that you might get hurt.” 

Chase’s sincerity had apparently been obvious enough that Gert toned down her attack a little. “So what you’re trying to say is that you think I wouldn’t be good enough and get caught.”

Chase looked almost terrified now. “Yes! No! I just- I care about you, Gert. I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

 

Having known Gert for as long as he could remember, Alex knew that this was the wrong thing to say. Gert had taken it as a challenge, and had already gotten out of her chair and was in the process of walking around the table. When she reached Chase, he turned in his seat to look at her as she pulled up a chair from a nearby table and sat down right in front of him.

 

She leaned forward till she was well into his personal space and said, “You seem to be under the impression that I can’t flirt very well. I wonder why?”

Gert looked into his eyes for a few seconds, before leaning back a little and looking at him from under her lashes, tilting her head to the side. “I’ve had just as much practise as you have. Many people find me attractive. I’ve had plenty of opportunity.” Gert begun to smile, and had a look on her face that some might call ‘seductive’.

Chase appeared to be a little dazed, and had begun slowly leaning closer to Gert. She leaned in as well, until their faces were only a few centimeters apart and lingered there for a minute, just staring into his eyes.

 

Suddenly, she grinned, a real one and not a weird seductive one, and said, “I guess I am good at flirting then.”


	3. our defenses were foiled

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [anonymous:](https://natasharomenova.tumblr.com/post/168697394608/could-you-please-write-a-gertchase-drabbleone) Could you please write a gertchase drabble/one shot with Gert just no longer being obvious of her crush on Chase after knowing chase and karolina kissed at the party and Chase starting to realize that he likes gert. Thank you!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is a short one, but I should have a new story up later today. chapter title from "one by one " by hungry kids of hungary.

It was a week after the gala when Chase realized how badly he’d fucked up. Which is saying something, since he only figured out that he just liked Karolina as a friend until after he’d kissed her (thankfully, when he apologized the next day for leading her on, she was very understanding and agreed that it was a mistake and that they were better as friends). 

 

The next day, the runaways gathered at lunchtime to discuss what was going to happen after they exposed their parents. When they were together, Gert usually singled him out in conversation at least once. Chase usually appreciated the reminder that someone cared for him and what he had to say, especially someone as smart and interesting as Gert, but today there was something different. She hadn’t looked directly at him all day, nor had she addressed him. It was beginning to make Chase feel off balance, like he’d taken a step and found empty space where there should have been another stair.

 

He had dismissed it as a one time thing, but it kept happening. It was a week later when he finally figured out why he was feeling so weird. They had all gathered at the local coffee shop after school, and Gert was still not talking to Chase. She and Molly had gone up to the counter to order and wait for their drinks and were laughing together. It took the sight of her happy and laughing for him to realize that he _liked_ her.


	4. bullshit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> introspection set at the end of episode 1 when chase is apologising for standing gert up and asking to reschedule

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is what i originally wrote for my [episode one drabble](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15666552/chapters/36392967), but it got too long and i was liking it too much to cut anything, so here it is. to clarify, it starts right after he asks her to give him another chance up picks up with her thought process.

He’s looking at her, smiling at her, but she knows him too well to fall for it. That was the smile he gave teachers when asking if he could have an extra day to hand in his work, that was the smile he gave classmates when asking if he could swap seats with them, that was the smile he gave strangers when trying to get them to do what he wanted. Gert isn’t a stranger though. She knew him when he swore to never use people, she knew him when he broke that promise. She had known Chase Stein better than anyone else in the world, and she still knew him well enough to know when he was bullshitting. He was smiling that smile, expecting her to be nice Gert, sweet Gert, accommodating Gert, the Gert he remembered being friends with. Except that Gert had long since changed, evolved, adapted into the callous, defensive girl sitting before him. She didn’t take shit from anybody, not even the boy she had once given her heart to. So she told him that the offer had expired, and she watched as that insincere smile and that insincere apology gave way to confusion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the next chapter i post will be a continuation, and it's already finished so i can guarantee you will actually get to read it, unlike most things i write


	5. dismissal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> instrospection set during that twister scene in ep 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a follow up to chapter 4

The brush of fingers over his shoulder, the closed-off look on her face made him remember everything he'd been trying to forget. Chase knew he'd been stupid in standing Gert up on their study session, but he hadn't known what else to do. He'd been too much of a coward to cancel on her, too ashamed of himself to send her a text. Gert had once believed in him, believed that he was smart and capable, and he hadn't known how to tell her that that was the old Chase Stein, the one who had the luxury of confidence and friends who loved him. The new Chase Stein, the one that had grown from the ashes of a friends' death and self-preservation, did whatever was expected of him by his new "friends" lest they realise that he wasn't one of them (wasn't cruel and harsh and brutish), even when that meant ruining his chances at a better grade and a reconciliation. When they ended up together anyway, he had tried to apologise, to undo the damage he had done, but instead of the exasperated tilt of her head and understanding smile he remembered Gert giving him when he made a stupid mistake, he was faced with a bitter, biting rejection.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i originally wrote this in august, but today i did a final read through and thought it sounded incomplete, so i started writing a second paragraph. turns out it doesn't flow very well, so i will post it as a different chapter some time in the future.  
> i'm also taking a short unplanned hiatus from [ tumblr](https://natasharomenova.tumblr.com/), so sorry to anyone who was confused by my sudden absence, but i'll be back on my bullshit by the time the next season drops.


End file.
